Political Wisdom’s morning edition rounds up the most important reads from the Journal and other publications, plus runs down early headlines. Follow our coverage on Twitter @WSJwashington.

Top Lines:

Millions of people along the East Coast made their way back to work after superstorm Sandy, while many remained without electricity or running water. The death toll from the storm climbed to at least 72, with nearly half in New York City… President Barack Obamareturns to the campaign trail Thursday after surveying storm damage in New Jersey Wednesday, touching down in Wisconsin, Nevada, Colorado and will sleep in Ohio… Mitt Romney has three event in Virginia… Lots of polls: Latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist Poll surveys show Mr. Obama ahead 50%-44% in Iowa, 49%-46% in Wisconsin and 49%-47% in New Hampshire… The latest Marquette Law School Poll shows the president expanding his Wisconsin lead to 51%-43%… And a Detroit Free Press/WXYZ-TV poll suggests Michigan remains a reach for the GOP nominee, putting the president ahead 48%-42%.

Key Reads:

The driving force behind President Obama’s political calculations during the past two years is David Plouffe, a 45-year-old White House adviser who has a hand in all major decision, Carol E. Lee writes for The Wall Street Journal. Ms. Lee reports that aside from his successes, “Mr. Plouffe was a leading adviser on the president’s widely panned strategy of not aggressively challenging Mr. Romney in the first debate in Denver, people familiar with the process said. He also didn’t anticipate that Mr. Romney would use the event to make a move to the center, they said. Those miscalculations gave the Republican nominee a burst of momentum that closed some of the president’s polling edge.”

Much was made of Mr. Romney’s pivot to the center during the first presidential debate. But the New York Times’ Michael Barbaro takes a detailed look at what changes the GOP nominee has made to his stump speech in an attempt to appeal to more Americans. “Mitt Romney used to talk up the ‘crucial’ importance of having two parents in the home, saying ‘a mom and dad together’ have a big impact. But over the past week, he has been extolling the virtues of single mothers at every turn, holding them out as examples of Americans ‘living for something bigger than themselves,’” Mr. Barbaro writes. “Mr. Romney’s 20-minute stump speech in the final stretch is a case study in such modulation, offering a stark illustration of his long journey from the partisanship of the Republican nominating contest toward the measured and less controversial middle of American politics.”

Mr. Romney is closing the gap in Wisconsin and New Hampshire but has not been able to make up the same ground in Iowa, Neil King Jr. writes for the Journal, dissecting the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist Poll surveys. “Mr. Obama holds a 49%-46% lead in Wisconsin among likely voters, half what it was two weeks ago, and a 49%-47% lead in New Hampshire, down from his lead of 7 percentage points there in September,” Mr. King writes. “In Iowa, where Mr. Obama launched his presidential quest in 2007, the president holds a more formidable 50%-44% lead among likely voters, due in large part to outsize support among women and young voters.”

Josh Gerstein at Politico takes a look at the other air war happening during the 2012 race. “Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and their allies have also unleashed a flood of radio ads, which usually get little scrutiny. Yet industry insiders say the radio spots actually could be more influential at this late stage, as the eyes of swing-state voters glaze over after months of near-constant television ads,” Mr. Gerstein writes. “Radio allows campaigns, super PACs and other players to tailor messages to specific audiences on issues that play to the base, such as gay marriage, mammograms and defense cuts. It also lets them roll out edgier ads at a relatively low cost, including a rap artist-backed spot about ‘disrespect’ of Obama and one from a religious conservative group claiming that Obama denied America’s Christian heritage during a visit to a Muslim nation.”

Top Opinion and Columns:

George F. Will, in his Washington Post column, offers a take-down of the Obama campaign, arguing the Democratic ticket is empty and arrogant. “Obama’s oceanic self-esteem — no deficit there — may explain why he seems to smolder with resentment that he must actually ask for a second term,” Mr. Will writes.

Karl Rove writes in the Journal that the presidential race comes down to numbers with just a few days to go and that the math favors Mr. Romney. “As of yesterday afternoon, there had been 31 national surveys in the previous seven days. Mr. Romney led in 19, President Obama in seven, and five were tied. Mr. Romney averaged 48.4%; Mr. Obama, 47.2%. The GOP challenger was at or above 50% in 10 polls, Mr. Obama in none,” Mr. Rove writes. “The number that may matter the most is Mr. Obama’s 47.2% share. As the incumbent, he’s likely to find that number going into Election Day is a percentage point or so below what he gets.”

And the New York Times editorial board says Mr. Romney crossed a line with his suggestion that U.S. auto makers are moving jobs to China. “When General Motors tells a presidential campaign that it is engaging in ‘cynical campaign politics at its worst,’ that’s a pretty good signal that the campaign has crossed a red line and ought to pull back,” the Times says. “Not Mitt Romney’s campaign. Having broadcast an outrageously deceitful ad attacking the auto bailout, the campaign ignored the howls from carmakers and came back with more.”

Last Word:

Remember the pay phone? Many New Yorkers are getting reacquainted with the old-fashioned technology in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Ben Cohen writes for the Journal. “Not since the birth of the iPhone has the pay phone experienced such demand, thanks to Sandy,” Mr. Cohen says. “Natural disasters tend to vindicate the public pay phone. With their clunky bodies mounted high and sometimes behind glass stalls, they generally remain serviceable during power outages, even amid flooding. When times get tough, in fact, the biggest challenge is often keeping the devices free of coin overloads.”

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.